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This condensed version of Piper's popular Desiring God emphasizes the importance of strengthening your relationship with your Creator by enjoying Him and His creation. Piper's now classic ideas are presented here in an accessible size that will allow you to absorb and apply them quickly---leading you to a dramatically different and joyful experience of your faith. Filled with biblical reasons for living a life of celebration, this life-changing read helps you discover not only why but how to delight more fully in the Lord.

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ChristianBookPreviews.com

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John Piper is a well-respected leader, a gifted teacher, a well-regarded preacher, and a prolific writer of over forty books. He is well-known for his advocacy of a complimentarian view of gender roles, as well as being a leader of the "New Calvinist" movement in the United States. Piper is also well-known for his advocacy of a viewpoint he has coined "Christian Hedonism." As a matter of fact, his book Desiring God, which explained his view of Christian hedonism, was the book that launched him into notoriety on the stage of American evangelical theology. The Dangerous Duty of Delight is a gift book that is an abridged and simplified version of Desiring God. It is being re-released on its tenth anniversary, and the twenty fifth anniversary of Desiring God. The Dangerous Duty of Delight accomplishes its goal, and is an intelligently structured summary of Desiring God. It summarizes Christian Hedonism in a brief manner so that the average reader can get the concept of the philosophy in a short amount of time.

The Dangerous Duty of Delight grounds the philosophy of Christian Hedonism thoroughly in both Scripture and in Christian history. Piper quotes numerous scriptures in the first few chapters to fortify his point. He also references luminaries such as Blaise Pascal, Jonathan Edwards, and C. S. Lewis. As a Reformed theologian he also spends an entire chapter on the answer to the first question of the Westminster Shorter Catechism which says that humanity's chief goal is to "glorify God and enjoy Him forever." He goes on to say that enjoying God is not simply an opportunity, but our duty as believers.

Much of the rest of the text of The Dangerous Duty of Delight is a guide on how to implement a life of Christian Hedonism. Piper focuses specifically on money, marriage, worship, and missions. Each of these areas of life, he argues, requires that we focus on the most joyful experience possible if we are to live in obedience to Christ. Although, it must be noted, that often the most pleasurable long-term result means delaying short-term gratification.

I enjoyed reading this text. Having read Desiring God several years ago, this book helpfully reminded me what I had learned. Having been a Christian Hedonist before I read Piper, I felt encouraged by his argument for Christianity as being the most pleasurable way of life for humanity to embrace. For those who are not familiar with Piper or Christian Hedonism, The Dangerous Duty of Delight would be an excellent resource to become more familiar with him.  Clint Walker, www.ChristianBookPreviews.com

For me personally, this is one of the books God put in my life years ago at just the right time for life-changing reasons. And I felt it was time I read it again due to some things God's been addressing in my life. It's my favourite book by John Piper. It's very short (only 84 pages), and that's what makes it so compelling. When one of your favourite authors condenses his thoughts on one of his favourite subjects to a mere 84 pages, it's good to take notice! Because you know he wouldn't want to waste a single word when narrowing down what he wants to say on that subject. The result is concentrated goodness, and compelling reading. I'm so glad to have read it again!

This is vintage Piper. It serves as a condensed introduction to his larger work: Desiring God. By-in-large, the book is quite good. As always, Piper teaches through Scripture some very profound Biblical truths. He is not quite clear at a few places in explaining things, and a couple of the chapters are rather short and offer little. Overall, the work is good, and is a nice primer for Desiring God.